Rough!

Beyond two and a half months the KKK play mode seems to increase in "violence". It is very tempting to stop them but that may run against their nature, having no clear idea as to how they would react in the long term with continued "correction" by separation, we just leave them alone.

The main consideration for trying to stop them is the amount of bruising or wounds that they accumulate after their extended play. There are wounds. . . It is play. You would know if it isn't. At the very least, someone will have a limp after the skirmish if it were.





Kazu giving Kiko a friendly smile.






Interestingly, all of them are silent when they do this play that easily lasts more than thirty minutes. Even the most vocal of them, Kiko, is silent throughout the biting, shoving, jumping, twisting, turning, and running. In between, you see that posturing, similar to a cat's, as if to attack a prey.

This sort of play was started very early. Almost as soon as they started walking. It is just that as time passes, the intensity of their usual activity increases. It is almost like mastering the maneuvers that they do.

At this point they are all heavier than Jimmu was when he was their age now. Jimmu was only about 20 lbs. at their age. That is how much Kiko weighs. Kazuko is about 26 lbs. and Koji is about 30 lbs. Considering that Jimmu now is somewhere 70-85 lbs. or so, it seems that they will be larger/heavier. Kiko's body type is very close to Jimmu's. In fact, they look almost exactly the same (at the same age) save for the color. Kazuko's and Koji's body are wider. It may be necessary to give them extra calcium (Kawu).

When the wounds get too numerous, there is a greater risk of having infections. The rain doesn't help either. The regular twice a day antibiotic of 1.5 ml facilitates the healing. It does act fast. Of course they love the bubble gum flavored variety. They actually think it's a treat! This treatment along with a wound cream (Sergeant's wound cream for dogs) does the job very well. Of course they still continue to rough each other, but I guess that is the point of having the simultaneous ingested and topical treatment - to allow them to continue their play.

We tried separating Kiko (just because she is the lightest) for a few hours at a time but notice that upon returning to them the intensity of the play seems to increase further. They probably miss each other. Again, the resulting bruises, of course, increases. With this experience, I think it better to let them be and do isolation only if the puppy shows a sign of weakness. It is good that all of them are full of vitality, making isolation unnecessary.